Monthly Archive for September, 2013

: September, 2013

Grunt’s eye in the sky — AeroVironment RQ-11A Raven Ravens are small, simple, quiet and effective which make them perfect for ground based units. Flying control is either active line-of-sight as far as six to ten kilometers or autonomously with the use of pre-programmed GPS waypoints. The RQ-11 is hand launched, a person simply throws it […]…

German Gliders in World War II The Luftwaffe and the Wehrmacht employed gliders for assault and supply during World War II — more so than the other countries involved in the war since gliders had the sole ability of airborne insertion and silent assaults which could deliver sections of troops at a time. Gliders had the advantage […]…

Douglas XB-42 Mixmaster — contingency for the B-29 Douglas produced an advanced design medium long range bomber for the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) as a requested contingency should the Boeing B-29 Superfortress program falter — with the added requirement to be much less expensive to manufacture than the B-29. World War II was raging and the […]…

B-36 moves the XB-58 Convair easily transported an XB-58 airframe by air from Ft. Worth TX to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio for testing with the use of a modified B-36 Peacemaker bomber (also made by Convair). The left and right inboard engined had their propellers removed, along with the bomb bay doors since they […]…

Hidden Thespian Skytrain 26° 38′ 47″ N / 80° 05′ 11″ W Though not secret to students and staff of the G-Star School of the Arts there is a Douglas C-47 Skytrain otherwise hidden to most of the world — except through film and production which is the school’s specialty. These images were taken on a […]…

Yokota’s Tony — 飛燕 (Hein) Hein (飛燕) means “Flying Swallow” in Japanese and this aircraft was every bit of its namesake being quick and maneuverable — so quick in fact that Allied aircraft of the day (P-40 and F4F fighters) could no longer rely on diving to escape unfavorable encounters. The Kawasaki Ki-61 Hein (Allied reporting name “Tony”) […]…

Glenn Curtiss’s Mansion 25º 48′ 36″ N / 80º 16′ 59″ W Glenn Curtiss retired from aviation designing soon after World War I but remained an active business man in two major, as well as diverse, areas — aviation schooling (including new airfield construction) and town building (he was a chief partner is designing Florida’s Miami […]…

Now Open for Visiting — NAS Ft. Lauderdale Museum! 26° 04′ 20″ N / 80° 09′ 58″ W This museum is happily now open to the public — by appointment due to a small but enthusiastic and cooperative staff — simply go to Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale Museum for information to arrange a convenient and enlightening visit. A […]…

9/11 Flight Crew Memorial in Grapevine 32º 56′ 27″ N / 97º 03′ 54″ W The destruction of the buildings of the World Trade Center did what most violent acts do against a strong people — although the fires killed and wounded thousands they tempered a nation against terrorists as well as terrorism. This is the […]…

Arado 196 — best in class? Arado’s Ar 196 served primarily in the Kreigsmarine (German Navy) during World War II as a reconnaissance seaplane. Assigned to warships, such as the Admiral Hipper and the Prinz Eugen, the Ar 196 also operated from shore based units for patrolling duties as well as special insertion duties. Prototypes were built […]…